Jazz notes: Jazz to get up-close look at coveted prep player

Not many teams will get personal workout with young swingman

By Tim Buckley , Deseret News

Published: Sunday, Aug. 2 2015 2:54 p.m. MDT

Highly regarded draft prospect Gerald Green intends to work out for the Jazz sometime before the June 28 NBA Draft.
Because Green's camp seems confident that the star Houston high school swingman will not slip past Utah at No. 6, however, others below the Jazz may not get an up-close look.
"We will visit teams currently picking 3-6 in the upcoming draft, while leaving time to account for revisits (and/or) interviews, as well as teams desiring to move up in the draft in order to have a chance to draft Gerald," agent Andrew Vye said in a statement released by Green's publicist.
"If I feel we have a shot at the top two slots, I will make time before the 28th of June to visit them as well," Vye added. "My strategy is an open-door policy due to the fact that I feel Gerald has nothing to hide. It is clear that the more time people spend around him the more impressed they become."
The Jazz are open to the possibility of picking a high school product, owner Larry H. Miller has said.
University of Utah big man Andrew Bogut, University of North Carolina forward Marvin Williams and Wake Forest point guard Chris Paul are considered leading candidates for the top two picks belonging to Milwaukee and Atlanta, with Green regarded as a likely high lottery selection.
This week, Jazz scouts plan to attend the NBA's annual pre-draft camp in Chicago.

TRADE TALK: Portland is said to be high on Green, though the Trail Blazers reportedly seem to be considering a move down from their current No. 3 position.
According to ESPNInsider.com'sChad Ford, Blazers general manager "John Nash has been quietly calling teams such as the Bobcats, Hornets and Jazz to offer a deal. The team is drafting third and most likely will have its choice of either Paul or Green. The Blazers would pass on Paul because they've already committed to Sebastian Telfair. They like Green a lot, but some in the organization feel they might be able to trade down, still get Green and pick up another asset in the process."

HMMM: According to multiple reports, former University of Utah coach Rick Majerus was running the workouts last month at Marquette University that led to his close friend, Denver Nuggets coach George Karl, being fined $200,000 and suspended for the first three games of next season.
The NBA docked Karl on Friday for violating rules prohibiting contact with players who at the time were not yet draft-eligible.
Published reports have identified that player as University of Illinois junior point guard Deron Williams, whom the Jazz apparently would love to land with their No. 6 pick.
Karl, though, supposedly did not even know who Williams was  or that watching him at the time was barred by the NBA. Rather, reports say he was there to watch his son Coby, a Boise State sophomore.
"This is probably the most expensive camp George ever paid to send Coby to," Majerus told Denver's Rocky Mountain News.
Among the others reportedly participating in the May 16-18 workouts in question was draft-eligible Marquette senior point guard Travis Diener, who auditioned for the Jazz on Friday.

NEXT OPPORTUNITY: While working recently at a camp in China, former Jazz and New York Knicks general manager Scott Layden told NBADraft.net that he is "looking forward to the next opportunity  you know, getting with a team that's serious about winning.
"I've been fortunate to be in the NBA for over 20 years, and I've had a wonderful sabbatical with my family," Layden said, "so I look forward to seeing what happens next . . . I don't necessarily have any strong desire to be a GM right away. The focus is more on joining a strong organization."